(Trinidad Express) Maritime attorney Nyree Alfonso says she has uncovered new information about the mysterious oil spill which has stained parts of the Tobago coastline and caused environmental damage.
On February 7, 2024, a barge called the Gulfstream was found overturned in the sea 200 metres off the coast of the Cove Industrial Park, Tobago.
It was being pulled by a tugboat-identified as the Solo Creed.
The tugboat has not been found since the spill.
In a phone interview with the Express yesterday, Alfonso noted that there have been a number of reports about the overturned vessel named Gulfstream but this is possibly the old name of the barge.
“Our information is that there is no Gulfstream involved in this accident unless it happens to be the earlier name of the current barge. The barge that is turned upside down (in Tobago’s waters), her name is Coolie Boy and we believe her to be owned by a Guyanese entity. The fuel was destined for Guyana,” she said.
“Our information is that the consignee is a Guyanese entity. The Solo Creed came through the Panama Canal empty, meaning not without a tow and went to somewhere by Aruba and collected Coolie Boy and was passing through Trinidad and Tobago on its way to Guyana,” she said.
She said investigations will determine whether something transpired with the barge itself and whether it sprang a leak or whether the Solo Creed tug negligently manoeuvred it and the barge hit something, causing it to run into trouble.
Alfonso said she believed that after the barge started leaking the Solo Creed “cut her lines and buss it and gone”.
She said the Solo Creed was flagged in Tanzania—meaning it was registered in Tanzania and more than likely went through the Panama Canal where it would have submitted all its documents to officials there.
She said an alert should have been issued to the Panama Canal in the search for the Solo Creed.
Alfonso explained that there is a difference between a barge and tug—as most “dumb barges” can “hide” since they do not have Automatic Identification System (AIS) or GPS tracking.
She said when a vessel is trying to hide, they turn off the AIS tracking which is satellite-based but sooner or later it has to be turned back on.
“In fact there are countries that do not allow you to come in their waters with (your) AIS off,” she said.
Alfonso said she did her research on the incident because members of the media had been reaching out to her for her expert opinion.
“I was able to find out that Mr Solo Creed coming through the Panama Canal picked up a barge called the Coolie Boy and he headed to Guyana,” she said as she reiterated the journey through Trinidad and Tobago waters when disaster struck.
Asked why she thinks the Solo Creed fled from the scene and abandoned the barge, Alfonso responded: “When it realised the potential disaster of having 5,000 metric tonnes of fuel leak out all over the place, instead of being saddled with any liability, they buss it.”
Hold vessel liable
Questioned on what were the consequences for such an incident, Alfonso said the tugboat must be held liable.
“In the ordinary course of things when there is an accident with a tug and a barge, the tug is held responsible because it is manoeuvring the barge which cannot manoeuvre on its own. Maritime law holds the manoeuvring vessel liable,” she said.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Maritime Services Division, she said, should be reaching out to its counterparts and issuing alerts for the Solo Creed.
“They need to track down the Solo Creed and find out who her owners are. Our Maritime Division can call up the maritime authorities in Tanzania and get the details,” she said.
She said there are also enhanced marine traffic websites that can track all these details.
Alfonso said vessels have something called “PNI Insurance” which is third party liability.
“You should be getting on to the PNI Club and ask them how they paying for the clean-up here,” she said.
Alfonso said a “poor” job is being done to contain the leaking oil.
“Had they put down the commercial grade booms that they should have, in a timely fashion, that oil would have never reached the shore lines of Tobago,” she said.
She said an environmental services operator was not deployed until days after the spill to utilise booms to contain the leak.
This was unacceptable, she said.
Alfonso said containing the spill required a tiered approach and “tier three” status should have been implemented immediately by bringing in the experts to plug the leak.
“I think that can be plugged but not where she (barge) is, the water depth is insufficient to send down divers. And we don’t have the equipment to pump that oil from that vessel upside down. So you should have brought in people to plug it and pump out the oil in its upturned position safely,” she said.
In response to questions as to why this barge would be transporting oil to Guyana which is oil-rich, Alfonso said the product that was being carried was not oil.
“It is not oil, it is refined products. I have clients who are actively selling refined products to Guyana,” she said.
She said Guyana has a wealth of crude oil but a shortage of refined products.
Alfonso also noted that there have also been public reports that the Dutch islands of Aruba, Curacao and St Eustatius launder refined products from sanctioned countries.
She said when vessels reach their destination the pick-up location of the product is labelled as Aruba or St Eustatius and not Venezuela, Iran, Russia or Libya which all have US sanctions.
At the Parliament sitting on Friday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley delivered a statement where he said there was no “cover-up” of the incident.
Also speaking in the Parliament, Energy Minister Stuart Young said there are over 350 vessels named Gulfstream, which makes it difficult for State agencies to source information.
He said that expert divers were unable to obtain information from the overturned carrier due to the sea current and low visibility.
Young said the Maritime Division, Coast Guard and other intelligence agencies, including Caricom IMPACS are working to trace information on the vessel.